California is the largest refugee resettlement state in the United States. Since 1975, approximately 700,000 refugees have been resettled in California, excluding select individuals, such as Cuban / Haitian entrants and special immigration visa (SIV) holders. Many refugee and ethnic populations, especially newly arrived immigrants, are burdened with preventable health conditions that, often, impede successful integration into host communities and hamper the abilities of refugee and ethnic populations to thrive.

In 2018, Nile Sisters Development Initiative (NSDI), in partnership with the US Office of Minority Health, will host the Western Regional Conference on Refugee and Ethnic Immigrant Health. This conference will be an extension of the US Conference on African Immigrant Health, held annually in different parts of the country.

In June 2017, NSDI began collecting community feedback in order to develop the 2018 regional conference framework that will fully address the health needs of refugee and ethnic populations. A quick and simple, seven-question online Google survey» will gather input from potential conference participants, including members of academia, attendees, decision / policy makers, and presenters.